Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
JAX
Icouldn't sleep. We'd royally fucked up, and Riley could have been hurt way more than she had been. The look of terror in her eyes as I put her in the escape pod was a look I never wanted to see again.
That wasn't the worst part. Now, she knew. She knew everything.
She knew we weren't human.
She knew there was a secret facility.
She knew about Bubba.
I finished sketching the outline of her lips as she slept and opened the caps to my paints. It had been a while since I painted anything other than landscapes. The mood just had never been right.
She was beautiful as she slept, with her arm tucked under the pillow, her disheveled hair making her seem more real than any woman had ever felt to me. I wanted to immortalize the way she looked in my bed, since it was doubtful she'd ever be in it again.
My phone buzzed with a notification and I swiped it open. My car had just pulled up to the house, triggering the camera to notify me. I watched as my father got out and straightened his suit.
He had changed a lot since my mom died, turning cold and focusing on work. Morgan and I were lucky Blake's parents helped take care of us until we were the triton equivalent of independent; fourteen.
I steeled my spine and stood, leaving my painting where it was. Hopefully, dealing with him wouldn't take long and I'd get to finish before she woke.
I heard the front door open as I slid out of my room and shut the door softly behind me.
"I'm surprised he drove considering we busted out of there like we did. He must have checked the cams and seen Bubba patrolling." Morgan was already out of his room and was buttoning his jeans. He stretched and sighed. "How is she?"
"Sleeping. She hasn't woken up once."
We waited for Blake to come out of his room and then we went downstairs together. My father was already in the living room examining a painting of the shoreline I had over the entertainment center. He didn't say a word as we all sat on the couch and waited.
It wasn't that I didn't want to ream him for what he did, but he was our admiral above all else, and his words held a lot of weight. He protected the Pacific City and castle from being discovered. It wasn't an easy job.
A job that would someday fall on my shoulders.
He was way too quiet for too long. It made me nervous that he hadn't sent any of his men to deal with us. It might have been a relief to others, but whatever he was about to say was going to be the equivalent of sending ten of his best men after us.
"Dad-"
He turned around and his eyes flashed as if he were underwater. It was done in warning, and I kept my mouth closed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Do you have any idea of the consequences of your actions tonight?"
It was a rhetorical question, but I couldn't help but speak up again. I was my father's son, after all. "But you were-"
"I don't have to explain myself to you. You are under my orders and you three broke protocol! What were you thinking taking her in a pod and then having Bubba pull it? Anyone could have seen! Now she knows even more of our secrets!" No one said a word. "You three had one task, and you failed."
"You were torturing her and filming it!" I yelled at him. "You said you wouldn't hurt her!"
He laughed. "The girl would have been perfectly fine. We weren't going to do it for long. I'm not a monster."
Yes, you are. I narrowed my eyes as he stared down at us as if we were pups. He hadn't looked at me like that in years, and my stomach twisted.
"This whole situation makes us all monsters. Worse than the humans." Blake spoke in a calm voice that had a hint of sadness. "We should never have agreed to being part of this."
"You have no choice but to be a part of this. My daughter is dying, and it's all that asshole's fault!" He grabbed the edge of the glass coffee table and flipped it, glass shattering as it hit the hard floor. "First he takes Natalia, and then my daughter!"
I cringed. He had been on edge lately because my sister wasn't doing well and the doctors said she was never going to wake up even if they did fix her lungs. He'd never showed so much anger before.
I didn't understand what Riley's mom had to do with anything. It didn't seem like a good time to ask. "We aren't letting you have Riley. She's ours, and whatever beef you have with her mother and father can stay that way."
"Someone needs to pay for what has happened to your sister." His breaths were coming in pants. "The short bit we got on camera should be enough to lure her mother out, and Robert won't be able to resist following."
"I won't hurt her. Not anymore." I crossed my arms and sat back.
My dad straightened his suit jacket and took a long moment to look at each of us. Morgan shifted next to me, having been the recipient of my father's hard glare many times over the past several years.
"You are hereby demoted from alphas to betas until you can prove you are worthy of the title." He started to pace with his hands clasped behind his back.
I felt like I was going to vomit. We had worked so hard to graduate at the top of our class and move on land to study the humans. Being demoted to betas might mean we'd have to go back home.
"From here on out you will follow my command without fault, otherwise I will have no other choice but to send you all to be tried as omegas.
" He stopped and met my eyes as they filled with tears of frustration.
"Just because you're the admiral's son doesn't mean you get special treatment.
Pull a stunt like this again and you will spend the rest of your days with the plankton of our world. "
My phone buzzed in my pocket, but I didn't dare reach for it. I wanted to yell and scream at him for bringing a human girl—as far as he knew—into our mess.
"You will keep a set of eyes on Riley at all times. You will report any changes to her behavior or routine. Am I clear?"
"Yes, sir." We all agreed, but I could tell from the strained looks on both Blake's and Morgan's faces that they weren't happy with the order.
I heard what sounded like an engine out front and turned my eyes to the door. Blake jumped to his feet, his phone in his hand. "She's taking the car!"
We sprinted to the door, but by the time we were on the porch, the car was already heading out the gate.
"You three better get moving." My dad laughed from behind us. "She's already getting away."